Profile

Native NameNone

Total Speakers

2,000

Usage By CountryHome Speakers: Mexico

California/USA

Background It is spoken in the town of San Lucas Quiaviní, Oaxaca, Mexico, and in Los Angeles and surrounding areas in California. About 2000 people of all ages, roughly one-fourth of whom are in California, speak it as a first language. Many speakers are bilingual in Spanish; most of those in the United States also speak English. It is part of the Zapotecan family of languages, which belongs to the large Otomanguean linguistic stock. The number of mutually unintelligible languages within the Zapotecan family is unknown, but is almost certainly greater than 20. Major divisions within the family include Valley Zapotec (including San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec and other languages), Isthmus Zapotec, Southern Zapotec, and Northern (Sierra) Zapotec. Of the over 50 Zapotec varieties existing San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec is most similar to San Pablo Güilá Zapotec.